Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar died on Monday night, PTI reported. She was 84. According to reports, she died in her sleep in her central Mumbai house.
Amonkar was the leading singer of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Born in Mumbai on April 10, 1932, she trained under Anjanibai Malpekar of the Bhendi Bazar Gharana and her mother Mogubai Kurdikar, who herself was trained by Alladiya Khan Saheb, a leading exponent of the Jaipur Gharana.
Amonkar was known, and sometime criticised, for breaking out of the rigid classicism of the Jaipur Gharana and tempering it with influences from other schools of Indian music. Her repertoire was diverse. She could deliver thumris, bhajans and even Hindi film music with the same skill as the more raag-based khayal songs.
She received a plethora of awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 1987 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2002. She was also honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1985 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2009.
Tributes and condolence messages poured in from musicians and politicians alike after Amonkar’s death was announced. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi described her passing as an “irreparable loss” to Indian classical music, and Lata Mangeshkar tweeted that she was saddened by the demise of an “extraordinary singer”.
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